Health effects of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine
Contents
Introduction
1,2-Diphenylhydrazine is a white solid. It dissolves only slightly in water (Health effects of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine) and does not change into a gas unless it is heated to very high temperatures. It sticks to soil and can be carried into the air along with windblown dust. Once in water or exposed to air it is changed into other chemicals within minutes. These chemicals include the toxic chemicals azobenzene and benzidine.
1,2-Diphenylhydrazine is used to make fabric dyes in other countries, and to make certain medicines. There are no other major anthropogenic or natural sources of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine.
Exposure and Pathways for to 1,2-diphenylhydrazine
1,2-Diphenylhydrazine is a white solid. It dissolves only slightly in water and does not change into a gas unless it is heated to very high temperatures. It sticks to soil and can be carried into the air along with windblown dust. Once in water or exposed to air it is changed into other chemicals within minutes. These chemicals include the toxic chemicals azobenzene and benzidine.
1,2-Diphenylhydrazine is used to make fabric dyes in other countries, and to make certain medicines. There are no other major anthropogenic or natural sources of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine.
Health effects of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine
It is not known if 1,2-diphenylhydrazine would affect your health if you were to breathe it in or eat it. The health effects of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine in humans have not been studied. Animals die if they swallow large amounts of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine and develop liver disease if they eat small amounts of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine for more than a year. Therefore, it is possible that if you were to eat large amounts of 1,2-diphenylhydrazine for a long time you might experience liver damage or die.
It is not known whether 1,2-diphenylhydrazine would harm you if you were to spill it on you skin. It is not known if 1,2-diphenylhydrazine causes birth defects or affects fertility. It is not known if 1,2-diphenylhydrazine causes cancer in humans; however, it has been shown to cause cancer in rats and mice that have eaten it in food for most of their lifetime. Therefore, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined 1,2-diphenylhydrazine to be a probable human carcinogen.
You should know that one way to learn whether a chemical will harm people is to determine how the body absorbs, uses, and releases the chemical. For some chemicals, animal testing may be necessary. Animal testing may also help identify such health effects as cancer or birth defects. Without laboratory animals, scientists would lose a basic method for getting information needed to make wise decisions that protect public health. Scientists have the responsibility to treat research animals with care and compassion. Scientists must comply with strict animal care guidelines because laws today protect the welfare of research animals.
Additionally, there are vigorous national and international efforts to develop alternatives to animal testing. The efforts focus on both in vitro and in silico approaches and methods. For example, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) created the NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative Toxicological Methods (NICEATM) in 1998. The role of NICEATM is to serve the needs of high quality, credible science by facilitating development and validation—and regulatory and public acceptance—of innovative, revised test methods that reduce, refine, and replace the use of animals in testing while strengthening protection of human health, animal health and welfare, and the environment. In Europe, similar efforts at developing alternatives to animal based testing are taking place under the aegis of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM).
Medical tests for exposure to 1,2-diphenylhydrazine
There is no test to determine if you have been exposed to 1,2-diphenylhydrazine.
Further reading
- The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
- Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods
- European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods
- Institute for Laboratory Animal Research
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